Whether you’re looking into job creation, budget deficit or economic indicators, there is never a shortage of business and economics topics for a research paper. Economic conditions have a way of affecting just about everything else that’s going on in the news. No matter your major, it’s a good idea to learn what you can about how the economy works and how it affects you.

How do economic conditions affect you? (Credit: Kheng Guan Toh)

For that reason, if you’re fishing for a good research paper topic, consider delving into economic conditions. Here are a few resources and some background information to get you started.

Business and economics topics

Start your research at Questia and you will likely find everything that you need to complete your research paper. If you haven’t visited Questia yet, be sure to take the tour and learn about all the resources available for subscribers.

According to Grabell, “Seventy-five years from now, historians will still be debating the effect the federal stimulus package had in ameliorating the Great Recession, just as they do now with the New Deal. Economists and nonpartisan forecasting firms estimate that the Recovery Act created and saved 2 million to 3 million jobs.”

At Questia you’ll find video tutorials to show you how to research and write a paper that meets all the requirements in your syllabus. There are thousands of peer-reviewed journal articles that can be found through a keyword search of the Questia library.

Once you’ve gathered your sources, keep them in your project folder where you can access them anytime and from anywhere.

Research economic conditions

Generally speaking, economic conditions are methods of measuring the health of an economy. They change over time and tend to move back and forth between expansion and contraction. An economy is considered healthy if it is expanding and at risk if it is contracting.

You can also learn the basics about major economic indicators such as the consumer price index (CPI) at the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) page of the Bureau of Labor Statistics site. According to the FAQs, the consumer price index is a “measure of the average change over time in the prices paid by urban consumers for a market basket of consumer goods and services.” This urban consumer group represents about 87 percent of the U.S. population.

The CPI is often referred to as the cost-of-living index but isn’t quite the same thing. A complete cost-of-living index would measure more data than the CPI does by taking into account changes in other factors that affect a consumers’ well-being.

Learn the basics

Another helpful resource for students is Investopedia, which houses tutorials, videos and other information on investing, trading, financial markets and more.

Use the Investopedia dictionary to get background information on all kinds of terms. For example, look up the term “inflation” for an explanation and illustrative video.

According to the dictionary, “As inflation rises, every dollar will buy a smaller percentage of a good. For example, if the inflation rate is 2%, then a $1 pack of gum will cost $1.02 in a year. Most countries’ central banks will try to sustain an inflation rate of 2-3%.”